The Florida Atlantic Owls won against Tulane University on Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. for their senior day game 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 25-13, 25-18). The FAU FlyGirls & Co. made an appearance at the game and cheered on the sidelines while bringing the energy up in the stands.
FAU women’s volleyball finished its regular conference season with a record of 8-8 and is sixth in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
The Owls had 154 attacks, 56 kills, a hitting percentage of .234% and 80 digs, while the Green Wave had 154 attacks, 40 kills, a hitting percentage of .117% and 63 digs.
While the Owls warmed up for their senior day game, the stands filled with all of the seniors’ family and friends with head cutouts, flowers and an immense amount of energy for the five graduating seniors.
“It’s definitely been emotional. I was trying to keep it under control during the game because you have to keep it together.It was definitely just really bittersweet, and it was a great day,” said outside hitter Katelynn Robine.
Three out of five seniors came to FAU from different places outside of the United States. They wore flags and other accessories to represent their home countries and family that traveled from all over to be there with them on their special day.
“Well emotions are high because my mom, I haven’t seen her in over a year and a half, so when she came here, it was very emotional,” said middle blocker Kaila Ru.
After finishing the match with passion and energy, the seniors lined up with their family and friends. The coaching staff had a presentation for the seniors to give them flowers and a framed photo of them making a very emotional night for everyone there.
“It’s been very emotional, not gonna lie. But I’m very blessed I came here and everything I did for the team and for FAU, and we’re not done yet,” said outside hitter Valeria Rosado.
The Owls’ next game is their American Athletic Conference Tournament from Nov. 22 to Nov. 24. They enter the tournament as No. 6 seed and will play No. 3 seed, University of East Carolina Pirates (18-8, 11-5 AAC) on Nov. 22 at 12 p.m.
Recap
To start off the first set, the Owls and the Green Wave were tied 3-3. To follow up and take the lead, Robine served an ace into seams one and six. From then on, the Owls continued to keep the lead over Tulane.
Libero Isabelle Northam went on a serving run with two aces into the donut hole and zone four, 8-4. Tulane served a short ball to FAU setter Victoria Hensley who passed it to Northam and set it up to Rosado for an out-of-system cross-court kill. With Northam still serving, she served another short ball to Tulane’s libero Dayla Ortiz who shanked the ball out and was subsequently subbed out of the game, 12-4.
The massive blockers on Tulane’s team made FAU blockers move the ball around more than usual. Tulane’s right side Agata Beksha kept FAU’s front row on their toes. Beksha blocked FAU’s middle hitter Madison Dyer from the middle, making the score 13-6. Beksha and middle hitter Jordan White blocked outside Olivia Hart’s attack from the back row, 16-6.
FAU continued their offensive stretch, with Hensley setting up Ru for a spectacular kill straight down into zone two keeping a high lead of 23-11. At set point, Robine missed her serve, giving the ball back to Tulane. The Green Wave then made a service error into the net, giving the Owls the win for the first set, 25-13.
In the second set, the Owls had a rough start, with Tulane finding an early lead of 3-7. The Green Wave’s offense got progressively more aggressive in the front row, which put a lot of pressure on the Owls’ defense. This forced FAU to call their first timeout of the night.
Coming back from the timeout, longer rallies began with a kill from Rosado, which Tulane shanked out, 4-8. Tulane then had an incredible save by outside hitter Avery Burks in the back row in zone six, 6-10.
After being down multiple points, the Owls started to take initiative as Robine got a kill into zone six. However, Burks shanked the hit. Tulane’s outside hitter Sami Jacobs made a great back row kill into zones one and six promptingand FAU to callcalled another timeout, 13-17.
After Tulane’s run, the Owls started to make their way back up in the game. at 21-21 after Robine’s kill down into zones five and six. The Green Wave ended the second set with middle blocker Sabrina Skyers blocking straight down on Robine’s outside offensive attack, 25-22.
The Owls started the third set off with a 5-0 lead against Tulane. After a difficult second set, the Owls came back more aggressively. Tulane’s defense began to struggle. Defensive specialist Annabelle Hu had a service error, forcing Tulane to call a timeout, 9-3.
Tulane then gave the Owls three points, with a service error from Jacobs, a touch on the net from White and Jacobs and a shank from outside Romina Cornelio, 15-8. Hu then had a huge singular block straight back down on Tulane’s side of the court, outside Amelia Haggins’ attack, 16-9.
Both the Owls and the Green Waves’ blockers made the game challenging. The entire game was defense-heavy.
Rosado served an ace that rolled over the net, making the score 21-12. She got a back-row kill straight down into zone six, 22-13. FAU took the next three points, finishing the set with a slide kill on the right side off of a block from Ru. A block came from Ru and Robine on the outside. Robine also took a kill off of a block from Jacobs and middle blocker Lora Cole for the set point, 25-13.
Going into the fourth set 2-1, the game started off with Tulane in the lead again at 3-5. Both teams gave the other free points, with service errors and swinging out, especially in the fourth set.
To make a comeback, the Owls continued to use the advantage of these massive blockers on the Green Wave and hit off their hands to get points back. Rosado took a kill from the outside and used the blockers from Tulane to get the point, 7-9.
Tulane started to make many errors in the fourth set which gave the Owls the chance to take the lead back. Jacobs attempted to attack on the outside and swung outside the antenna, tying up the game at 14-14. Following that point, Dyer got a kill in the middle into zones one and six, leading to Tulane’s second timeout of the set.
Tulane serves two more service errors, giving the Owls more points closer to finishing out the match, 24-18. To end the Owls’ senior game, Robine took a swing straight off of a block for the kill, 25-18.
“Well, right now, everybody goes back to zero, right? The team that is able to put it together mentally, physically and be able to enjoy the moment is going to be successful, and that’s going to be our goal as a staff…We showed we can beat the number one, we can beat the number two” said head coach Fernanda Nelson.
Molly O’Flynn is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @molly_oflynn_.
